While Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV)-compliant chip technology for pos terminals and credit cards has developed a significant presence in many countries worldwide (including Canada), it has not gained ground in the United States. However, that may soon change.

According to Finextra, new terminals that accept older magnetic-stripe credit cards and debit cards as well as new EMV-compliant cards and near field communications (NFC) payment processing technologies from smartphones will soon be rolled out throughout the U.S. This is, in large part, due to the behest of major credit card companies including Visa and MasterCard, both of whom are committed to implementing the change-over during the next few years.

Some of the new EMV-enabled terminals, while being new to the U.S., are in fact established devices elsewhere around the globe. For example, the Ingenico iCT250, sometimes referred to as the "Future Proof" terminal, debuted in Europe in 2009.

Mike Duffy, president of Chase Paymentech, commented on the switch to EMV.

"As emerging payment options gain adoption in the U.S., merchants are looking to make the customer check-out process as easy and safe as possible," Duffy told the news source.